The Commuter

Hey faithful movie goers! How’s it been?? I know, I know I’m in and out of it lately but I’m back now. With a decent enough action thriller starring Liam Neeson (A Monster Calls, A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Nut Job).

So, imagine your day-to-day life going to and from work by taking the morning train out to the city each and every day rain, sleet and snow. Because you’re a good man and you provide for your family and though you’re not a rich man you want to do everything it takes to get your son into that fancy college and make sure your wife could be no happier than what she already is. That’s the life of Michael MacCauley (played by Neeson), insurance agent, grinding away to make ends meet. That all changes however when he suddenly and seemingly for no reason at all loses his job. A little distraught Michael takes that last train ride home to tell his family the bad news. But plans change when aboard the crowded train he is suddenly met with the strange Joanna played by Vera Farmiga (Orphan, The Conjuring, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas) who presents the question, “What if I asked for one little favor and all your financial problems just went away?”

This seemingly hypothetical question gets a little too real when Joanna then tells him that there’s a bag with a large sum of money inside the train bathroom, waiting for him, if he just finds a person who doesn’t belong riding that very train. Intrigued Michael finds that bag of money and suddenly he’s in. All or nothing. With the simple mission of finding this mysterious person who doesn’t belong. But he only has till a certain stop before this mysterious rider deports the train. As he gets closer to the stop the stakes begin to increase with his questioning of the strange request, his family’s involvement, a sudden body count rise and the deep conspiracy this ‘one little favor’ emerged from. You’re boring commute will never be the same again!

So, when I first saw the trailer for this movie I thought what anyone else who’s a Liam Neeson fan would have thought. ‘Isn’t this Non-Stop but this time on a train?’ You remember my review for Non-Stop don’t you if you don’t I can hardly blame you. It was released in the summer of 2014. It’s a Liam Neeson Adventure with high stakes on a plane…you know instead of a train…like now. Same story different form of commute however I will say this. Hand’s down Non-Stop was better. Ehh don’t get me wrong The Commuter is pretty strong too but it seems a little…unrealistic. Michael is supposedly a 64-year-old man who’s trying to go into his retirement without ruffling too many feathers. I can appreciate the character strengthening as a person towards the end, but all the strenuous stunts pulled just to survive this train ride…I don’t buy it from a sixty-something year old. The momentum of the movie was really stop and go as well. Like there were several times where we thought for sure Michael had found the culprit and you’re thinking here comes that final showdown and then it turns out not to be the guy so then we’re back at square freakin’ one! The action sequences were intense and at some points I did feel myself tense with apprehension during certain parts of the movie. But I don’t have to tell you that Liam Neeson movies are going to be intense. You go in knowing that fact.

Currently it holds a 58% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and last time I checked it was at 55% so…yay?

It’s a great date night movie. Nothing too cheesy and if she’s shocked enough, guys, you might get some hand grabbing action so yeeeah. But other than that, I think this would be good to see at home Redbox it or something. It’s good but not great and it doesn’t really need that movie screen view. It just doesn’t.

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